Page 55 of For Love or Money
‘It’s not about the Manolos!’ Katrina chimed in, as if they were debating some invisible adversary.
‘Exactly!’ Lesley tore off a slice of pizza. ‘Carrie might be a bit of an eejit, but she earns her own money and she can spend it however the fuck she wants. It’s no one else’s business.’
‘That smug mummy is such a wagon,’ Katrina said, sloshing more wine into her glass.
‘Yep. Miranda’s right. She’s a fucking bitch!’
‘Miranda’s always right,’ Katrina said.
Lesley smiled as she bit into a slice of pizza. This was going to be a piece of piss.
They both cheered at the end as Carrie skipped down the street in her brand-new Manolos, bought and paid for by the shoe-shaming mom.
‘Ah, that was lovely,’ Lesley sighed. ‘A morality tale for our times. Right,’ she said, getting up from the sofa. ‘I’ll get another bottle, and you cue up the next one.’
When she had opened another bottle of red and poured them both big glasses, she curled up on the sofa and Katrina hit play on the remote control.
‘Aw, I love seeing Miranda and Steve so happy together,’ Lesley said as ‘The Ick Factor’ started.
‘They’re the best couple,’ Katrina murmured before falling into a rapt silence as Miranda proposed to her boyfriend over three-dollar beers.
‘Nowthat’swhat I call romantic,’ Lesley said. ‘It’s much more authentic than some contrived mushy bullshit.’
‘Miranda’s so cool,’ Katrina said.
‘I bet Tom would love if you proposed to him like that.’
Katrina turned to her. ‘Do you think so?’
‘Totally.’
‘You know, sometimes lately I get the feeling that he’s building up to ask me.’
‘Do you want him to?’
‘Of course. I just wish he’d hurry up and come out with it. I think it’s stressing him out.’
‘Then why wait for him to do the asking? Be like Miranda. Don’t you want to be a modern woman in charge of her own destiny?’
‘Well ... yeah.’ Katrina took a sip of her wine. ‘But I’d kind of like a nice ring too. If I propose to Tom, I won’t get a ring, will I?’
‘I’m sure he’d buy you a ring anyway.’
‘And what if he didn’t say yes? It’d be mortifying.’
‘Of course he’d say yes. He’s nuts about you. But he’s so shy. If you have to wait for him to get up the nerve to ask you, you might be walking down the aisle with a Zimmer frame.’
Katrina smiled. ‘I don’t know ...’
But there was a gleam in her eye, and Lesley could tell the idea was already taking hold.
17
Stella sang along to the music playing in her earphones as she kneaded her bread dough vigorously, trying to focus on the task at hand and ignore the fluttering in her stomach. She’d been fidgety and on edge all day, ever since Peter had announced that Rafe was in town and he’d invited him over for dinner.
‘You don’t have to cook,’ he’d added quickly, perhaps picking up on her anxiety. ‘We’ll go out, or order something in.’
‘No, let’s stay in,’ she’d said. It was easier to stick to Peter’s diet if they ate at home, and, besides, she was happy to throw herself into menu planning and cooking to take her mind off fretting about meeting Rafe. While it would be nice to get to know at least one member of the family before she was thrown in at the deep end with them all in Nice, the cowardly part of her just wanted to put it off for as long as possible.
